Pain at the Pump: Rising Gas Prices Attributed to Mideast Strife

Prices throughout the state had been trending downward until recently. According to AAA, Florida's average price for a gallon of regular gasoline had decreased for 51 straight days.

By JOHN CEBALLOSTHE LEDGER

LAKELAND | Sharon Anderson-Brooks keeps an eye on the various gas station marquees she passes during her daily Mulberry-to-Lakeland commute.Lately, she and her husband, Howard, also have been keeping up with headlines out of Iraq to see how the recent turmoil within the Middle Eastern country will affect prices at the pump."We watch the prices of crude oil anyway, and we were talking this week about what's going on in Iraq," Anderson-Brooks said Wednesday afternoon as she filled up her Mercury Sable at the Race Trac station off Harden Boulevard in Lakeland. Anderson-Brooks, a recreation leader at city of Lakeland, said her work also takes her to Pinellas County twice a week.Prices throughout the state had been trending downward until recently. According to AAA, Florida's average price for a gallon of regular gasoline had decreased for 51 straight days.The streak was broken Saturday, when the average price for a gallon of regular gas reached $3.57. That figure is still down from $3.65 per gallon a month ago.However, it's also up from $3.52 per gallon from this time last year, according to AAA."Motorists should be ready for gas prices to increase around 5 to 10 cents," Mark Jenkins, spokesman for AAA – The Auto Club Group, said in a statement. "The price hike could continue depending on the duration of this conflict."Alisa Robbins of Lakeland is normally mindful of the price at the pump, but didn't take notice Wednesday prior to gassing up her Hyundai Sonata at the same Race Trac, which offered regular gas at $3.55 per gallon.Robbins said she'd recently seen a Facebook post alluding to the turmoil in Iraq and its effect on gas prices. She doesn't foresee making any significant changes to her driving habits unless prices continue to increase drastically."When gas went over $3 a gallon for the first time, I considered changing some things," Robbins said. "After a while, I just got used it."Gregg Laskoski is a senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com, which uses a combination of crowd sourcing and its own contacts with gas stations and credit card companies to provide real-time pricing data for consumers in the U.S. and Canada.

RISING PRICESOn Wednesday, the price for a gallon of regular gasoline in Florida was $3.58, which was up three cents from last week. In Lakeland, prices ranged from $3.42 at the Shell station at County Line and I-4 Frontage roads to $3.69 at the Sunoco on Lake Parker Avenue near Orange Street. In Winter Haven, prices ranged from $3.41 at several stations to $3.62 at the Shell station on County Road 540 and Spirit Lake Road.Laskoski said the spike in gas prices across the country is directly attributable to the current strife in the Middle East."Iraq is definitely the catalyst," he said.Iraq is the second-largest crude oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. The country produces between 3.3 million and 3.5 million barrels per day.Laskoski said the rise in price is a result of the uncertainty surrounding many of the country's oil fields, pipelines and refineries.On Wednesday, Sunni extremists seized control of the biggest oil refinery in Iraq, located 130 miles north of Baghdad in Beiji.It's the latest turn of events that has helped send the price of crude oil through the roof."When the price of crude oil goes up, that means wholesale prices go up," Laskoski said. "The rise in cost then passes to the retailers, and after that it passes to the consumer."The price for West Texas Intermediate crude oil — the benchmark in oil pricing — reached $107 per barrel this week. According to Laskoski, that's the highest it has been since September.Not surprisingly, the increase in gas prices isn't unique to the U.S."Prices for crude oil are up worldwide," Laskoski said. "And it will stay that way until there's some sort of resolution in Iraq."Then again, a conflict half a world away makes little difference to some drivers.While filling up her Chevy Equinox, Mindy White of Lakeland said she considers gas an indispensable commodity that she would buy regardless of cost."I don't really pay close attention to gas prices," White said. "Either way, I have to have it."

[ John Ceballos can be reached at john.ceballos@theledger.com or 863-802-7515. ]

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